Friday, May 21, 2010

If every guest speaker meant what he or she said, we’d be a G20 country.May 1995. Speaking at the Taras Shevchenko National University, Bill Clinton said this:

But your efforts will not be in vain, because the course is right, even if the path is difficult. The toil is bitter, but the harvest is sweet, as the old proverb says. In time, your transformation will deliver better, more prosperous lives and the chance for you and your children to realize your God-given potential. You and your children will reap the harvest of today's sacrifices.

In the pursuit of peace and prosperity, you have been well served by President Kuchma and his government's bold and farsighted leadership. You should know this: As you build your future, the United States will stand with you.

15 years later. The Children of the Sweet Harvest meet another guest speaker: Dmitry Medvedev, President of Russia.

“They brought me this iPad. I don't know if you have it,” he tells them teasingly, answering a question about his reading preferences. (Ukrainian students live on a God-given monthly stipend of $50.)

On a lighter note, he promised them that Russia wouldn’t use its Black Sea Fleet against neighbors.

Student: How do you see the strategic importance of preserving this base in Sevastopol for...

Medvedev: Let’s have a straight talk: Will Russia use its Black Sea Fleet to attack neighboring states? No, it won’t. Hahaha! We’re a peaceful country.

One of the students turned out to have a name that’s hard to forget: Ihor Yushchenko.

That didn't spoil the party. Medvedev got high marks from the audience.

Among other things, he recalled attending a conference at the University two decades ago as a postgraduate from Leningrad.

In reading this blog over the past two years or so, I've noticed that you've become sardonically critical of the U.S. government for supposedly abandoning Ukraine to the Russians.

Specifically, how should the U.S. government have acted toward Ukraine since Yuschenko's election in 2004? Which specific U.S. policy failure led to Ukraine's turning to Russia for help, in your opinion?